Applying psychological type and psychological temperament theory to the congregations at cathedral carol services

ABSTRACT

Psychological type theory and temperament theory provide lenses through which the distinctive appeal of different forms of Christian worship may be interpreted. Studies of regular Sunday congregations in Anglican churches in England and Wales find strong representation of sensing types and feeling types and of the Epimethean Temperament. In order to explore whether the very distinctive provision of cathedral carol services attracted a different psychological profile among those who attended, 193 individuals attending Christmas carol services at Bangor Cathedral completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The data demonstrated that, compared with congregations attending Sunday services at Anglican churches, the carol service attracted significantly higher proportions of intuitive types, of thinking types, and of the Promethean Temperament.

KEYWORDS:

• Congregation studies
• cathedral studies
• carol services
• psychological type
• temperament

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).